More Details on Hunter Biden Party Gaming Lobbying Controversy

September 18, 2008 (iGamingBusiness.com) — Today, iGaming Business offered an update and further clarification on the controversy brewing around Hunter Biden, the son of Barack Obama's Vice Presidential running mate, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware. The younger Biden had been revealed in recent weeks to have been a lobbyist for Party Gaming.

"Obama's campaign stated that 38-year-old Hunter Biden resigned from law firm Oldaker, Biden and Belair when his father was chosen as the Democrat's running mate and no longer lobbies for the legalisation of online gambling on behalf of client Russ De Leon, a shareholder in Party Gaming.

"The story was broke by the New York Times last last week and sparked controversy in the close Presidential race due to Senator Obama's denunciations of influence-peddling in Washington, DC, and the honest government line taken by Republican candidate John McCain. However, Obama's campaign revealed that Biden’s son had stopped lobbying for nine clients shortly after his father was chosen as Obama's running mate last month. But, critics point to the fact that the campaign did not announce that the young Biden had given up lobbying until reporters asked questions about his involvement with a firm that was under Federal investigation for violations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.

"David Wade, Spokesperson for the Obama campaign, said Biden's involvement in the lobbying effort gave 'much ado about nothing a whole new meaning'. He revealed that Biden had 'worked on the House side to encourage introduction of a bill that would clarify that online gaming sites like those operated by Party Gaming would not have liability for operating prior to the passage' of UIGEA.